Luckily none of the veneer was actually missing, but it was coming off in quite a few places. I used basic wood glue to reattach all of the loose veneer and then stacked some heavy boards on top to hold it down while the glue dried. (These glue injectors make it super easy to get the glue into even the smallest spaces.)

Luckily the back wasn’t missing, it had simply fallen off. I tacked it back on with small brad nails. And I filled in a few cracks with wood filler and then sanded it smooth. I removed the interior trim piece and the glass. And finally, I cleaned the piece well and it was ready to paint!

Honestly, a lot of times getting a piece of old furniture prepped takes way longer than the actual painting!

For the paint on this piece, I used my favorite primer: Zinsser cover stain oil primer. This is my go-to primer for furniture projects because it sticks to anything and does a great job of sealing in old finishes so they never bleed through onto your fresh paint job. After the primer dried, I sanded lightly to get everything nice an smooth and then painted.

For this makeover, I used regular old latex paint in a couple of my favorite colors: Valspar Cooled Lava on the outside and Behr Peacock Feather on the inside. (Yep, you can totally paint latex paint over oil primer without a problem. It’s painting oil over latex that tends to go poorly.) I did use a few tricks to get a perfectly smooth paint job without using a paint sprayer.

First, I added Floetrol to my paint. Floetrol is a paint additive that reduces brush marks when painting. The other trick that really helps give a crystal clear glass finish – using a small foam paint roller for the flat surfaces and a high quality paint brush to get in the corners and details. (These paintbrushes are my current favorites.)

What a transformation! She looks about 1000 times better than the before. And I am really liking the modern colors with the vintage shape.

At first I was a undecided about whether or not to reattach the trim piece in the door. I love the little legs and detailing on this piece. But I was worried the front may be a bit busy – and it will look even more busy once it is full of dishes or books or whatnots. Perhaps it would be more polished without the detailing in the door?

In the end I like it both ways, but it just seemed like a shame to lose the character of that original trim so I added it back. I’m really happy with how it looks in the end – wouldn’t this piece look amazing full of all white milk glass or ironstone pieces! What would you have done if this were yours? With trim or without?

It looks great love the color combination. I like the detail but I’m thinking that when you fill it with dishes and accessories it may look busy like you said. I’d have to see it but I’m leaning towards without because of the white dishes.

Keep the detail – it’s lovely, though I think you may like it better if you can put it in front of the glass. My china cabinet has the detail behind the glass and it drives me nuts b/c it makes the fake panes so obvious. Fill it with white stuff like ivenad suggested and it won’t compete as much.

Hi! Honestly I think it looks lovely both ways but you definately have a point about the busy-ness of the detail. I guess it depends on what you want to put in the cabinet. Maybe, you can take the detail off and save it somewhere in case you want to put it back on? Good luck!Cas x

I have found that my tastes change from time to time. I like options. If you like it without do it without for awhile. Put it away for now. If you change your mind and want a different look, put it back on. From my point of view, I would choose without.

Plain door. The detail is beautiful, but with the inside color and even the most simple pieces inside it’s too busy.I definitely think you could use it alone to accent something else beautifully.Great make-over!

OMG- how beautiful..Love it..Hello there.. I’m following ya /linking per beyond the picket fence hop..Lovely blog you have here.Can’t wait to read more.. Hope you can stop by & visit me sometime / follow back.. TY So much.. Have a great week.Marilyn from http://theartsygirlconnection.blogspot.com

I liked it with the detail until you posed the idea of plain door==much more industrial. The detail is busy, but nice. Could you put in over the blue back panel, to offset it against the blue, and to preserve its beauty, and to be able to save it, at the same time? This is a perfect sized apartment cabinet, by the way!

Hi Carrie, love the cabinet, the colors are great! I think I would take the front details off, it take’s away from the beautiful cabinet. have a great weekend,Reginap.s. I am your newest follower, would love for you to visit my blog!

what an amazingly great piece! I love when the before picture is so sad and then the after is so so wonderful—you are the best at that! And this piece was SO wonderfully finished :o) I just LOVE coming over to your site and checking out what you are up to! :o)Jaime from crafty scrappy happy

LOVE this furniture redo. This is truly from trash to treasure. If only the people who sold it to you could see it now (they would probably pay you big money for this)! Just wanted to let you know that we featured your cabinet on Sew Woodsy today!

hi! I found your blog through searching furniture redo with veneer on google. I love what you did with this cabinet! I just got an almost identical cabinet from the curb but it’s in pretty poor condition. the veneer is peeling and chipped, the door is not in great condition (it has a similar insert detail like this piece) and has the same legs! No shelves in mine either, but it does have the back still in pretty good condition – I think. I can’t decide what to do with it or even how to start! I am a newbie and trying to get some pieces for our future home that we hope to buy. Could you share more detail as to how you worked this miraculous transformation? I would love to salvage the piece I have and make it look as amazing as yours turned out! Thank you!

Hi Carrie, I found your lovely cabinet over at the Get Your DIY On Party. I love the color combination and I’m liking the cabinet with or without the insert. With the insert would look great with white trinkets behind it and without would look great with colorful trinkets with coral, blues, and greens.

Carrie this is a beautiful piece! I am in love with the blue on the inside- stunning!! I am featuring it on my blog today for the Get Your DIY On Features- thank you for linking up your Trash To Treasure Projects with us and I hope you’ll be back on April 6th to link up Spring Projects!

Hi! Honestly I do believe that seems to be wonderful both equally approaches but you certainly use a position concerning the busy-ness on the aspect. I guess this will depend on what you long for to work the particular cabinet. Possibly, you can get the particular aspect down and also conserve that a place in the event you want to put it back on? Good luck!

Thanks Debbie! Looking back, I really didn’t give a lot of detail in that post! Sorry about that. Before painting, I used wood glue to reattach the loose bits of veneer. Then I sanded the whole thing to smooth everything out. I used an oil-based primer to help make sure the old dark wood finish didn’t bleed through the paint and then very lightly sanded everything one last time. And then paint. Hope that helps. I don’t always do all of that prep work but this piece was in really poor shape and needed it.

The paint was brushed on. To get a really smooth paint finish, I used a Purdy paint brush for the corners and edges. (The Purdy 2 inch angle brush is my favorite.) I used a small foam roller for the large, flat surfaces. These are often labeled as being for doors and trim and say for smooth surfaces. To keep the finish really smooth, you can also lightly sand with a high grit sandpaper in between coats if it looks like it needs it. Good luck!

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